DO I REALLY WANT REVENGE?
Disclaimer: The Cullens, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.
All of the chapters of this story has been beta'd by the lovely dowlingnana and the chapters with mistakes are being replaced.
The venom spewing from her mouth was enough to almost kill all hope that Edward had of ever convincing her that he had feelings for her. Of convincing her to give him a chance to prove himself, and to give him a chance that they were not aware of what the outcome would be due to the actions they had taken. How can he even convince her to trust him enough to let him help with discovering who had killed her father. Her statements about her mother had him puzzled since Queen Renee was not here.
He needed more information so Wystonia could be of help. With the investigation coming from an unlikely source more is able to be uncovered. If only she would listen to him with an open mind. He knew that his parents would do everything possible to help, but, Bella would have to be willing to accept what was found.
Her team is going to be hampered just because of who they are and where they call home. This is going to limit the information they will have access to and they can't go in with accusations without proof. Damn, her hands are going to be tied, but, she will not listen to one of the people that feels is at fault. If only they had had some kind of warning about what their actions were going to set in motion. Hindsight is only good as a lesson learnt once you get pass the circumstances.
Bella watched Edward for a moment or two then she told him he was dismissed. Edward opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but, then thought better of it so he just turned and left the room.
Since their arrival he had been assigned the heir apparent apartments while Bella has occupied the royal apartments. All of her things had been moved before they had arrived; unfortunately he hadn't brought much with him so he was rather short in choice of clothing as well as other items. But, Edward was determined to keep trying to get through to Bella as soon as he saw a weakness that would allow him a chance.
CHAPTER 5: CHOICES, DECISIONS AND OATHS
Bella was pacing back and forth, back and forth in her quarters trying to make sense of her thoughts and the rights and wrongs of things. On this particular night, eve before her coronation, she couldn't find the off switch to be able to slow down her mind enough to get some rest. Her mind kept going over things that have happened in the last several weeks. Continually rethinking everything. Always believing that her parents would still be alive if she had continued refusing to sign those damn papers. Was it right to blame the Wystonia royals when she was the straw that broke the camel's back? Circles. That was all her mind seemed to be doing; going around in circles. Wishing she had someone she could confide in and talk this entire matter out, but, who could she trust? Really, deep down, trust to help her?
At this point, she would be officially crowned Queen of Vargia, she was married to a man she doesn't know except through his reputation, have in-laws that were considered to be good people and seemed to be willing to go to extreme lengths to secure the best for their people, even if the method was criminal of and in itself. Next, she has Noragia to deal with due to the cause of such riff raff that abducted her and murdered her mother which caused a near war that killed her father. She had to find out who was behind it and bring them to justice. Having to keep her word concerning the privileges she granted Wystonia which brought about her marriage to Crown Prince Edward and then dealing with what the situation of how far she was going to let him have any sort of influence here in Vargia. Add all of that to the governing of her people and she had a full plate and then some as the saying goes.
Alice and Rosalie came in to check on her only to find that she had not even been to bed yet. The scowl they developed on their faces had no effect on Bella. She just told them to go get what rest they could as tomorrow, or rather; today was going to be a very long day. She had certain plans that she had not discussed with anyone and they would be put forth right after the coronation during the oath swearing.
Not far down the hall in the Heir Apparent apartments, Edward was battling a war of the mind as well. His thoughts were not far from where Bella's had been, just coming from a different direction. From the moment he had seen that picture of a young Princess Isabella he had known that she was meant to be his, but, he wished King Charles had been forthcoming with the information of why he had been refusing their request for certain aid. Wystonia could and would have helped. He knows that in his heart of hearts. Everything would have turned out differently and two kingdoms would have benefited all the way around. Instead, all of the secrecy cost him the love of his intended Crown Princess, the easy companionship that they could have been enjoying and the trust that she would have had in him and his family. Now she was intending to do everything her way with no outside help or influence. 'How can I get her to trust me enough to share with what she does know so I can try to help her?'
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Miles away across the border in the country of Noragia was a group of men that stayed in the background while they controlled the government. It was done in such a quiet, undercover way that no one, not even the current government realized that their policies were being dictated to them. As far as they knew it was all their own ideas as to which laws needed to be put in place for the good of the country. This small group of men had such a tight hold on the government that they had no fear of ever being stopped from doing what they wished.
So, it was that they had to stop and bring down Wystonia. The royal family had dared to defy them one too many times by refusing their various offers of business in their country. Of course, the prices were a little high, after all that was just good business to make a profit where you could, but, the continued refusal brought about the need to bring them to heel. The plan was to buy any necessary company they could use for transportation, nudge them out at the Vargian docks so they couldn't import or export any of their manufactured goods, have a monopoly on parts needed for the oil refineries and the pipelines, so, the last straw was when they were in talks with Vargia for assistance to abduct Queen Renee to use her as a bargaining tool to control and stall the talks going on. The threat to her was relayed to King Charles and he immediately withdrew his people without further explanation.
Wystonia's next move was to propose a marriage between the two royal houses to be able to bring about the needed aid and that was refused due to the threat that still existed towards Queen Renee. However, the unforeseen occurred when Wystonia kidnapped the Crown Princess and used her as a way to try and get help. King Charles still refused, but, they found a way around that refusal and the marriage happened anyway which was a shame since the Queen was really a delightful person. Before the marriage could take place proof was sent to verify the death of the Queen and an assassination attempt was made on King Charles as they were making a play to take over. Who knew that King Charles would be able to combat the attempt? True he was mortally wounded and died as a result of that and now, Queen Isabella would have to be dealt with in order to bring Wystonia down. Things were going to get very interesting over the next several weeks. Plans were going to have to be rethought and new ones worked out and then put in place. But, first, a mole was going to be needed next to the young Queen to feed information that would be needed to be able to control her.
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It was nearly time for the coronation and Bella is in a small side room waiting for the procession to begin. The ride over on her horse, as was tradition for the people to be able to view the royal, went well and took five hours to wind through the streets to get here. She was dressed for the coronation before leaving this morning. It warmed her heart to receive the adoration and well wishes of her people. Crown Prince Edward had been escorted over when it was time for him to be there along with all of the other nobles and people's representatives in government for the oath swearing. She took this private moment to pray for the future, for guidance and that her parents were together and at peace.
There was a discreet knock on the door before Ladies Alice and Rosalie came in to check for any last minute repairs to her makeup, dress or hair. All seemed to be as it should be, so now it was time. Her personal escorts along with the ladies in waiting were already in position for the entrance. Ladies Alice and Rosalie took up their places close to the Queen at the end of the procession. The Queen would be the last to enter along with the escort coming behind her.
The escort was all in dress uniform while the ladies in waiting wore various colors of their own choosing. Ladies Alice and Rosalie wore mint green dresses while Bella was wearing a honey colored off the shoulder, with low neckline, full length dress and long sleeves. There was a long trailing train attached to the dress that covered the full width of the aisle way.
As she took her position the doors opened to see that the age old cathedral was packed full of people. People from the government, the royal house, the nobles and all invited guests were in there to see the new Queen crowned. The procession began and it seemed to take forever before it was time for her to move forward. Two hours later Vargia had officially crowned a new queen and before she received the oath from her subjects she was scheduled to make a speech. This was something she had requested to be made available in the program.
Queen Isabella rose and moved forward to face all in the packed church. Her eyes moved from section to section, surveying all in attendance. "I stand before you as your anointed Queen and promise you that from this time forward we are entering into a new era. It will be an era that promotes not just man, but, woman as well.
"My father and mother, King Charles and Queen Renee, were murdered while working to preserve safety, your way of life and the lifestyle that you have been used to. I am putting together a team that will be responsible to finding out who these individuals are so we can bring them to justice. Because we will be satisfied with nothing less.
"All of you know that I am married to the Crown Prince Edward of Wystonia. He will today be taking the oath the same as the rest of you. We are going to be securing our borders without and within. Anyone that breaks their oath to the crown and breaks harm to our people will be dealt with immediately without hesitation and the punishment will be severe.
"Now, let's begin the oath swearing so we all can begin to celebrate."
A/N: The coronation is out of the way and Queen Isabella has wasted no time in letting people know how she plans to move forward. As she stated in Wystonia right after the wedding and being notified of her father's death, "A new era has begun, it is the time of woman." Edward is expected to be the first to swear an oath of loyalty to the crown of Vargia, well he do it? How long do you think he will allow her to continue with her current attitude? What action is going to be taken against Noragia? And who is calling all of the shots from that country? And why are they so interested in having all of the control?
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